Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Three New
Year Considerations for calibrating a career trajectory

Autumn Tooms
Cyprès

The first few weeks of the new year
is a natural time to reflect on one’s career trajectory and set goals for the
upcoming months. For junior professors, the process of reflection and goal
setting can be overwhelming because it is focused primarily on the quest for
tenure and promotion. As a full professor, I can share that the thrill of tenure,
once earned, fades quickly into a cycle of other quests that range from completion
of projects or promotion to administrative roles. It is the rare academic who announces,
“I have tenure now so I’m going to take it easy and find some balance in my
life.” With this universal truth in mind, I begin again by offering three
considerations for 2016 that help to calibrate career goals and a more focused
trajectory.

Consideration one: Find an
institution that matches your needs for time

Strategic investments of time make
the difference between successful, balanced academics and unproductive scholars
struggling to find a moment’s peace. A colleague during my first year at Kent
State University said the key to being successful was, “ …getting from Point A
to Point B”. The trick is deciding what constitutes Point B. For some it is lots
of free time, for others it is a vita rich with publications. Once you have
identified Point B, the second step is to ask yourself in the face of every
request if investing in that request gets you closer to, or farther away from,
Point B. It may also be helpful to avoid comparing your journey to others in
your department as your goals may not be the same as others. In many
circumstances, your goals may actually be in direct conflict with the goals of
your colleagues’. For example, I had a colleague I really enjoyed thinking with
over coffee. We enjoyed our weekly coffees so much that we decided to write
together. Once our project was over, I realized that I would not be able to
work with her again because we spent more time talking and processing than we
did actually writing.

Consideration two: Find a mentor; be
a mentor

A mentoring relationship is a
mutually beneficial relationship between someone more experienced and someone
less experienced. Such a relationship requires honest dialog, mutual trust, and
the willingness of the mentee to reflect on the insights of the mentor. A great
way to meet a mentor is through networking at national conferences such as
NCPEA. Don’t be shy about networking; introduce yourself either in person or
via email and ask for feedback about something you have written, or something
that person has read. Volunteering to participate in projects is another great
way to meet a mentor. Be prudent when considering where you invest your time.
Do you networking at the local, state, or national level? If you are seeking
tenure; building national networks can be helpful in terms of laying the
foundation for finding the names of possible external reviewers. But if you are
more focused on leveraging issues at the state level, you might save your
travel funds for trips within your state. Serving as a mentor is another great
way to extend and enliven networks within your sphere of influence. A caveat for
mentors as well as those seeking to be mentored is that your word is the most
important form of capital you have. If you promise to meet a deadline or follow
through on a task; keep your promise.

Consideration three: Find a
comfortable way to say no and use it often

One of the dangers of our profession
is that we can be seduced by exciting opportunities and we do not know how to
set a boundary. I have known many colleagues who worked through the “Point A to
Point B” puzzle and realized that the opportunity in front of them was not
going to help them get closer to Point B. Unfortunately, they did not have the
courage or tools to say no and set a boundary. Junior professors are often
asked to serve on all sorts of committees because senior professors know that
their tenure allows refusal of such service without ramification. If you are a
junior professor do not be afraid to invoke “no” when asked to serve on a
committee by using your quest for tenure as the excuse. If you
are a senior professor, it can be more difficult to say no because of
professional expectations to serve. In most cases, when faculty are collegial,
department chairs and deans make honest efforts to support faculty members’
refusal of a particularly duty for at least a semester.

Of all the suggestions
above, reflection is perhaps the most important because it gives perspective. Place
on your calendar time to step away from your duties and think about where your
career is unfolding. Take yourself to lunch and consider if you are meeting
your long and short-term goals. Map out the writing projects that you have yet
to complete. Is there a mentor or a protégé that you have not checked in with?
Typically I schedule these reflective exercises with the changes of the
semester. Like all other end of the
semester rituals, they help me to celebrate my successes, solidify my networks,
and energize for the work of the coming months.

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